


Just to Discover You

by KrisseyCrystal (IceCreAMS)



Series: Fluff Bingo [25]
Category: Tales of Zestiria
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Beaches, Drabble, Established Relationship, F/F, Fluff, Soft Kisses at Midnight, Stargazing, Vacation, and other sappy things, these girls be in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:01:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25610251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IceCreAMS/pseuds/KrisseyCrystal
Summary: “Hey. You wanna see the ocean at night?”
Relationships: Alisha Diphda/Rose
Series: Fluff Bingo [25]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1655521
Comments: 4
Kudos: 17
Collections: Writing Squad Fluff Bingo





	Just to Discover You

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Owlily](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Owlily/gifts).



> _My oh-so-lonely heart  
>  stops becoming sad, little lion,  
> just to discover you along the way._  
> \- “O Leãozinho” by Caetano Veloso

Alisha has known Rose long enough to be familiar with her streak of spontaneity, which is perhaps the most important thing _to_ know about her girlfriend: that before she is a person of action or words, she’s a woman of out-of-the-blue _ideas_. It no longer surprises her when, on their way back to their hotel room, following the light of the low garden lamps that line the sand-dusty path, Rose suddenly grabs Alisha’s hand and pulls them to a stop. 

“Rose?” Alisha hums. “Are you all right?”

“Lisha,” Rose whispers, turned away. Her eyes are trained on the intersecting pathway to the left, where the tall hedges that separate the beach from the resort bend upward in an arc overhead. When she spins around to face her again, her red hair fans out around her chin. “Hey. You wanna see the ocean at night?”

Alisha bites back a smile. Rose is always drawing a smile out of her somehow, it feels like. “While I admit the sea is certainly very romantic, I’m afraid we’re not going to be able to see anything. It’s almost midnight.”

“Yeah, I know, but—”

“Lights aren’t allowed out on the beach.”

“I know, I know—sea turtles; believe me, Lisha, I get it—but wouldn’t it just be nice to experience it?”

Alisha doesn’t quite know what there is to experience in the pitch dark. Aren’t beaches usually at their most romantic during sunsets? But she shrugs and smiles because she always has a hard time telling her girlfriend no when she uses those puppy-dog eyes, and with a boisterous cheer, Rose plants her hands on Alisha’s shoulders and steers her down the branching path. Soon their flip-flops clap against wooden floorboards. Once they are out from behind the tall hedges lining the oceanfront of the property, Alisha can much better hear the rush and sigh of the ocean tide as it breaks against the shore. 

They walk out to the wooden railing at the side of the large, painted wood wall that serves to block out light peeking in from the open path between the hedges. To their right descends a ramp to the sand. Down along the beach wander a few other idle figures, silhouetted against the thick darkness.

“Look! You can see the stars!”

Alisha raises her eyes. A wistful sigh falls from her and without even thinking about it, she crosses her arms over the railing. “Yes. Wow. They really are lovely, aren’t they?”

In the distance, a ukulele plays. Its notes are nearly lost to the wind.

Rose’s smile widens. She turns and leans one hip against the rail, curled towards Alisha like she has a secret to share. Somehow, even in the dark and cut off from all light, her blue eyes still glimmer. “When I was little, I used to make up constellations and give them silly names.”

“Oh?”

“I’d try to think up the wildest stories I could using what I’d see off the nearest law firm billboards.”

Alisha tries to abort her laugh and hide it behind a snicker but fails terribly. “Really?”

Rose shrugs and looks back out to the black depths of the ocean. Further beyond, where the horizon should meet the sea, there’s a thin divide that’s barely perceptible between the different shadowed hues. “There’s not much else to do when you’re living out of the back of a van with a bunch of other people.”

Alisha tilts her head and watches her. When the next sea breeze washes in, it lifts her bangs off her face and toys with the tail of her hair. Alisha breathes in and her lungs swell deep with sea salt and something else—something fresh. 

Something that feels like it could still just begin, even at this midnight hour.

“There was a field trip when I was in the fourth grade,” Alisha begins, “to a planetarium.”

Rose turns and pins her with her attention. Suddenly, Alisha feels like the most important person in the world. “Yeah?”

Alisha smiles and ducks her head, eyes falling to the wood grain she can barely make out under her fingers. “The star show was amazing. I learned a lot about the sky and the seasonal constellations that you can see in different hemispheres—but more importantly, I think that was the first time I learned just how small I was. In the span of the universe, I mean.” She clears her throat and looks skyward to the blanket of stars spread above them from side to side. “I remember when I got home, I couldn’t stop crying because I felt so insignificant.”

“Aw, Lisha…”

Alisha shakes her head and smiles. When she meets Rose’s eyes, she’s unafraid. “But now that I’m older, I think I appreciate the sight—more than I did when I was nine, anyway. There’s something to be said for how comforting it is to be reminded that not _everything_ you do _has_ to hold power.”

The sea rolls in and slowly slides back out. 

Rose’s smile turns cheeky. “Well. Someone’s feeling philosophical today.” 

“I just like it, okay?”

Rose laughs. It’s bright and happy. Freeing. Slowly, she crowds Alisha against the railing until the edge of it digs into the small of her back. Alisha rests both hands on the wood behind her, and gently, Rose lays hers overtop. Both thumbs rub circles into the back of Alisha’s hands.

“You like the strangest things, Lisha,” Rose hums. 

Still smiling—as if being around Rose ever allows her to stop—Alisha leans forward. “Says the woman I happen to like the _most_ ,” she says and softly, presses her lips to Rose’s.

Rose chuckles into it and wraps her arms around Alisha’s neck. Their bodies press flush together, and Rose kisses her again. And again. And again, as the ocean slips out and returns back to the shore. 

**Author's Note:**

> big thanks, Fran, for the "stargazing" suggestion with ToZ alskdjf if I remember right, you said I could write about anyone and originally I was gonna do this prompt with Sormik but it's been Literal Ages Since I've written Rosali so... I hope this fluff is a soft and light thing
> 
> also, "O Leãozinho" is a super cute song and while it talks about the sun and this fic takes place at night, i like to imagine that ukulele is playing this melody while Alisha and Rose are bein gay
> 
> thanks for reading <3
> 
> [tw](https://twitter.com/kissykrissey) / [tblr](https://somefinelipstickonthatpig.tumblr.com/)


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